The impossible trinity of knowledge.

As I dig deeper into academic research, I can see the paradox more clearly that has silently shaped the course of our history.

Like a shadow cast by human progress itself, this paradox: what I would like to call "the impossible trinity of knowledge" – lurks behind every breakthrough, every innovation, and every leap forward we've ever made.

It's a pattern so fundamental to human understanding that once you notice it, you begin to see it everywhere: in the rise and fall of civilizations, in the development of technologies, and even in our daily struggles to balance what we know, what we do, and what we ought to do.

This impossibility stems from our struggle to harmonize three fundamental aspects of knowledge: Deep Knowledge (Theory), Working Knowledge (Practice), Eternal Knowledge (Ethics).

Deep knowledge (Theory): This is a body of knowledge built over time in academia. Here, theoretical frameworks, elegant equations, and models developed through rigorous scientific research attempt to describe the truth. Researchers pour their energy and efforts into discovering new concepts and tools to see the world.

This knowledge has immense potential but remains largely obscure and inaccessible.??

Working Knowledge (Practice): This is the day today. This tacit knowledge is gained through experience and might not be available in books and journals. As most practitioners would say, theory differs from practice; indeed, there is some truth to this. The real world is messy, and at the core of it lies the imperfect interaction of humans that goes beyond logic and rationality.

The sheer number of ever-changing variables makes it impossible to model reality perfectly. Hence, practitioners develop rules of thumb and intuitions to navigate the world. Somewhat like an experienced sailor who can look at subtle signs of sea and wind to predict the weather. This tacit knowledge comes from experience, iterations, and failures.

Eternal knowledge (Ethics): By Ethics, I mean a set of fundamental principles that apply universally and unequivocally and are independent of time or place. Ethics is what makes actions right or wrong. It explores essential questions about morality and values.

Ethics addresses the "Why" question and is possibly the most critical aspect of knowledge.

Let's now see this impossibility in action :

Capital (The Wealth Paradox) :

Deep knowledge of Capital was developed through early research done by John R. Hicks, John Maynard Keynes, and Karl Marx.

Businesses and countries gained a working knowledge of Capital through application.

So far, so good.

Problems begin to surface when the question about the Ethics of Capital remains answered. This eventually leads to increased inequality, financial instability, and contagion.

Who shall control Capital and how much to control are questions of Ethics and has wide-reaching implications. As a result :

• The wealthiest 1% of people own 46% of all global wealth.
• The bottom 50% of the worldwide population owns just 2% of global wealth.
• Small businesses face a $5.2 trillion financing gap in developing economies.
• Developing countries lose approximately $200 billion annually due to tax avoidance
• An estimated $8.7 trillion is held in tax havens globally

Nuclear Energy: (Power and Peril)

Niels Bohr, Otto Hahn, Fritz Strassmann, and Fermi developed the theoretical knowledge of Nuclear Fission. In comparison, somewhat less famous pioneers, including Herbert L. Anderson, Martin D. Whitaker, and George Weil, helped assemble the first nuclear reactor.

So far, so good.

Till someone came up with the idea of nuclear chain reactions that could produce massive amounts of energy for use in a nuclear bomb. As a result, we have a world with :

• More than 13,000 nuclear warheads.
• Nuclear war can be catastrophic to an extent that can make the Earth inhospitable.
• Global spending on nuclear weapons per year averages more than $100 Bln.

Artificial Intelligence: (The Digital Dilemma)

Alan Turing, Marvin Minsky, and Herbert A Simon did the early theoretical research and created deep knowledge of AI. Later, practitioners like Open AI, Anthropic, and Meta popularized AI by applying the technology to LLMs.

So far, so good.

Till we come to face with :

• Mass propaganda on social media, election manipulation, and deepfakes generated by AI.
• Biased AI systems leading to discrimination
• AI-powered surveillance and Privacy violation

The most formidable challenge in this trinity lies in ethical mastery. While deep knowledge can be acquired through study and practical skills through experience, ethics remains stubbornly resistant to such straightforward approaches. It requires something far more challenging: the ability to see beyond immediate gains to consider the ripples our actions create across generations.

The most profound ethical truths often hide in plain sight. For example, "Excess" of anything is bad." This is not hard to understand, yet, it is so easy to hijack humanity by indulgences in excess.

If we look around, the evidence of our collective amnesia is staggering. Today's office worker spends more time sitting than sleeping – twelve hours trapped in ergonomic chairs that slowly reshape our bodies. Our eyes remain fixed on screens for numerous hours daily, drinking endless digital stimulation. In America, the average adult devotes eight and a half hours – more than half their waking life – to consuming media across an ever-multiplying array of devices.

Perhaps most alarming is our daily data consumption, now exceeding 70 gigabytes – more information in 24 hours than our ancestors processed in entire years. This flood of excess hasn't made us wiser or happier. Instead, we find ourselves in the midst of a global mental health crisis unprecedented in human history. We've become victims of our own abundance, drowning in a sea of more.

1. The impossible trinity is impossible for lack of ethics.
2. Ethics is what makes actions right or wrong.
3. It answers the shortest but the toughest question, "Why"?

Verse 11.32 of the Gita : kālo’asmi, lokak?ayak?t prav?ddha? lokān samāhartum iha prav?tta?

Paraphrased in Oppenheimer : "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."